


Pride is not always a Sin

by Sturzkampf



Category: Widdershins (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen, Pride
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:15:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21886513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sturzkampf/pseuds/Sturzkampf
Summary: Elaine Barber's daughter may be wilful, stubborn and ungrateful, but that doesn't mean her mother doesn't love her
Kudos: 6





	Pride is not always a Sin

**Author's Note:**

> _Based on an incident at our recent graduation ceremony. I thought it was worth sharing._

“Could I have your ticket please ma’am?” The woman looked down at her shuffling feet, as though she wasn’t sure why they were moving.

“I am sorry, but I do not have one,” she said. “But you see, my daughter is a cadet, and I want so much to see her graduate today.”

Technically, we ushers aren’t supposed to let anyone into the Police College graduation ceremony without a ticket. There are always one or two people who turn up without one; they’ve forgotten their ticket or lost it, or they didn’t realise they needed one in the first place. We can use our discretion whether to let them or not. We have to watch out for the occasional troublemaker who tries to blag their way in so they can disrupt the ceremony. This one didn’t look like a Fenian or an anarchist or an anti-magic campaigner or some other undesirable trying to make a fuss. She was a middle-aged lady, solidly built, with an air of middle-class respectability both in her manner, her way of speaking and her clothes that is impossible to imitate. Not only that, she was obviously upset, desperately keeping strong emotions under control because that is what a lady does. There couldn’t be any harm in letting her in. The graduation was about to start at any minute and there were still spare seats. The other ushers had already gone to help direct the graduates during the ceremony, and I was the only one left on the door to look after any stragglers.

“I think I can let you in this once,” I said, giving her my best reassuring smile. “What’s your daughter’s name?”

“It is… it is Barber. Nicola Barber.”

“Oh, you’re with the Barbers!” That removed any lingering concern I might have had.

It was an open secret that Nicola Barber is the granddaughter of the famous bounty hunter and author Henry Barber. He’d already arrived with his wife Isabelle to see his granddaughter graduate. My boss has escorted them to their seats personally. As they walked into the hall the band playing light music to entertain the crowd struck up Handel’s “The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba”. To this day I don’t know if the organisers had arranged that in advance, or whether it was only coincidence. Isabelle grinned.

“Listen Henry. They’re playing my tune!” Henry scowled in mock annoyance.

“Hmph. ‘See the Conqu’rin' 'ero Comes’ would 'ave been more appropriate for me.”

Even without her famous grandparents, I would have recognised the name. The cadets tend to be a much of a muchness and it’s often difficult to remember one from the other, but everyone knew Nicola Barber, who graduated top of her year, and is a woman to boot. Even in this modern age, I’m afraid that there are still some unprogressive senior policemen (it’s always the police _men_ ) who assert that only men are tough enough for front line policing and that policewomen are only suitable for secondary duties like making the tea and breaking bad news to bereaved parents. Nicola Barber had proved them wrong, not only by scoring an unprecedented 96% overall in her written and practical examinations, but also by receiving two commendations for bravery and a reprimand for unnecessary use of excessive force during her placement period on the beat. We were all expecting her to achieve great things in the future.

“If you’re cadet Barber’s mother then there’s no problem, even if you’ve er… forgotten your ticket,” I told Mrs Barber. “The graduation hasn’t started yet. Come, I’ll show you to a seat. I’ll see if I can find a space next to your relatives.” She looked at me in horror.

“No! No! They must _not_ see me. Nicola must _not_ see _me_. I want to see _her_.”

“Ah, er, I see,” I said, not seeing at all.

“We have had a bit of a falling out, Nicola and I. Policing is no life for a respectable young lady is it, not really. She would be much better off finding a respectable young man and settling down and giving me some grandchildren. But she does _not_ seem to understand the concept of duty.”

In my opinion, Nicola Barber understood more about duty than anyone else in the hall, but I bit my tongue. Even if I’d wanted to interject, Mrs Barber was in full flow so there was no opportunity to get a word in edgeways.

“I have told her and told her, but will she listen? No! Young people today are so wilful. They don’t know good advice when it is offered to them. In the end I am afraid that we Had Words. Nicola told me that if I was so opposed to her choice of career, then she did _not_ want me anywhere near her graduation ceremony, and she forbade me to attend.”

“Er… yes, so in that case why…?”

“She may be following her own path, and she may not be speaking to me, but Edmund – that’s my son, such a good boy – has been keeping in touch and informs me how she is progressing. He says she is doing well. Very well in fact! Despite of all the obstacles, she is getting a special award!”

“That’s right. She’s been awarded the Peel medal for best...”

“And for all her stubborn ways, she’s still by daughter and I love her and I am so proud of her. She has achieved so much and worked so hard. I want to see her graduate so much. To see her go up to the Chief Constable in her dress uniform and receive her badge. But she must _not_ see me because that will spoil it for her. Do you understand?”

I understood. I found Mrs Barber a place in the shadows at the back of the hall where the ushers stand, behind the main seating. She stood and watched as Cadet Nicola Barber walked up to the stage, received her police badge and the medal for best cadet of the year to the rapturous applause of the crowd and the great and the good assembled on the stage. Her mother, unnoticed in the background, stood still and quiet, smiling and sobbing with pride, propriety forgotten for once. I handed her my clean pocket handkerchief, so she could dry the tears running down her face. Then Constable Barber turned and descended the stage. The brief moment was over, Henry and Isabelle stopped cheering, and the next cadet walked up to be welcomed into the family of the Widdershins Constabulary.

Mrs Barber dried her eyes, handed back my handkerchief and smiled. Pride radiated from her like light. She had seen her daughter wearing her dress uniform graduate top of the class. Discreetly, I led her back out of the hall to the entrance. She thanked me quietly and walked off down the street. Once she had gone, I put my handkerchief back in my pocket, after I’d wiped away my own tears.

**Author's Note:**

> _At the time of writing, Mrs Elaine Grant, the Barber siblings' Mum, has not appeared in person in canon, so my description of her may be completely OOC. Then again, people tell me that about all the canon characters in my fanfic._


End file.
